Blackburnian Warbler

(Setophaga fusca)

Where: Richmond, VA • Glidewell Rd.

Notes: Earlier today while ppreparing for an upcoming lecture that will be part of “A Day of Photography in the Garden” at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, I noticed a little yellow bird poking around the back of the bird bath. The first sight of this little yellow bird’s very strong wing-bars got my attention, and the upcoming talk on “Attracting Birds with Water” was only a few days ahead on the calendar. This would be the perfect time to add a new species, maybe? The traffic at the birdbath was unusually busy because of the lack of rain over the past several days, however the young Song Sparrows, numerous Goldfinches, Cardinals and Blue Jays were absent for the moment. The dripping and movement of the water invited this female migrant over with a cautious approach. Stopping briefly on a small rock at the back of the bath to inspect the area (above), this south-bound traveler made its way over and went directly into the puddle. She was in the water and splashing for only a few seconds, and then she was gone. However, I managed to get three or four shots in that brief time. Downloading the images confirmed, it was a female Blackburnian Warbler (SEE: MALE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER) as I suspected. This addition makes an astounding total of number of individual birdbath species at my residence (so far), sixty and was a new yard species as well.

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